Telemarketing is one of the fastest growing areas of commerce. Hardly a day goes by for anyone without receipt of a call from a telemarketer.
While some calls are informative and well-focussed, other calls are viewed as tedious and unwelcome. Often the perception of the telemarketer by the customer is based upon the skill and training of the telemarketer.
In order to maximize the performance of telemarketers, telemarketing organizations usually require telemarketers to follow a predetermined format during presentations. A prepared script is usually given to each telemarketer and the telemarketer is encouraged to closely follow the script during each call.
Such scripts are usually based upon expected customer responses and typically follow a predictable story line, including a beginning, a middle and an end. Typically, such scripts begin with the telemarketer identifying herself/himself and explaining the reason for the call. The script will then usually begin with an explanation of the product and the reasons why a consumer should wish to have the product. Finally, the script may complete the presentation with an inquiry of whether the customer would want to purchase the product.
While such prepared scripts are sometimes effective, they are often ineffective where a customer asks unexpected questions or where the customer is in a hurry and wishes to complete the conversation as soon as possible. In these cases, a telemarketer will often become flustered or loose track of where he/she is in the story line. Often a call which could have resulted in a sale will result in no sale and, more importantly, an irritated customer. Because of the importance of telemarketing, a need exists for a better method of preparing telemarketers.